Even people who don't play video games know that Final Fantasy exists. Though the series has in part turned to a money-grubbing, lazy mess, there are still (very) high points in its history.
Not that the games are bad. Quite the opposite, almost all of them are damn good and definitely worth playing. This is a list of my order worst to best, with attempted justification. I should point out that I'm only referring to the main numbered titles (I - XIV). Some of the spin-offs/sequels are brilliant in their own right (e.g. Tactics, Chocobo, etc.), but there's way too many of those to add to this list. Ports are also given lower priority, since at times they change the core gameplay drastically and create an entirely different experience (for better or worse).
14. Final Fantasy XIV (Microsoft Windows - 2010)
[UPDATE: This refers to the original release of Final Fantasy XIV, not the 2013 release Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.]
I can't even give this one a proper evaluation because the game has so many bugs and unfinished crap in it. The whole thing is unplayable (it was so bad that this past November the original game version was shut down). The low quality of this release is inexcusable, and this is one of Square Enix's top franchises. I would guess that deadlines and money had something to do with the premature release, but if it's not even done, then don't release it. It would be like buying a Mario platformer and going through a level with no enemies, or reaching World 3 when the map just cuts off, or not being able to climb a ladder because they hadn't programmed that action yet, so you're stuck. Oh well! Guess the joke's on me! No hard feelings! Yeah, right. Hopefully the "relaunch" of Final Fantasy XIV (mid-2013) will contain an actual game that people can actually play (as absurd as that sounds), but I am almost pissed off enough to not even try it. The fact that Square Enix sent out not one, but two apologies and offered a bunch of compensation goodies to people that bought the initial release says it all. I wouldn't need your damn compensation gifts if you just gave me a game that had all of its parts when I bought it. And MMOs aren't new, they aren't hard to figure out, and if you're freaking Square Enix, you can give some money to people that know what they're doing, because you're not limited by a small budget. Plus, Final Fantasy XI (also an MMORPG that you made) came out over five years prior to this. Even though that game also had some rocky development, it's come a long way. So that means you have over half a decade of facts, figures, data, and details to work from, plus the years of development experience. Final Fantasy XI is also the most profitable Final Fantasy ever. Why on earth would you not want to do everything in your power for a repeat performance? There is no excuse for XIV's failure.
Naoki Yoshida, the game's current director and producer, has stated that he feels another mistake like Final Fantasy XIV would end up destroying Square Enix, and I agree. When one of (if not the) flagship title of your company is so incredibly mishandled and thrown out like yesterday's trash, your entire reputation is irreversibly damaged. I should point out that I said Yoshida is the game's current producer, because from day one to the initial release it was Hiromichi Tanaka. After the disaster of XIV's release, he left the company due to "health reasons". Yeah, XIV sucked so bad it made me sick too. Tanaka was also responsible for Final Fantasy XI, the only other MMO in the series. The initial bumbling and "unanticipated difficulties" of that game's release should have sent up a million red flags for the rest of the higher-ups at the company. HEY, THIS GUY IS DOING ANOTHER FINAL FANTASY MMORPG AND IS IN THE SAME POSITION AS LAST TIME. DIDN'T SOMETHING SCREWY HAPPEN LAST TIME? WHATEVER, LET'S JUST PUSH THE PROJECT FORWARD WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT. I'm not saying Tanaka sucked at his entire job, but in terms of certain aspects, absolutely. How hard would it be to say, "Okay, you've done a great job creating and bringing about this whole game, Tanaka, and it's pretty slick. Now I'm going to give it to another person (or persons) who are capable to look it over, and they'll launch it without a hitch."
The so-called "relaunch" of Final Fantasy XIV will have a new server system, graphics engine, server and data structures, revamped interface, redesigning of all maps, a new interface, new playable characters, a reworked job system, more gameplay variations (1v1 and large scale player versus player), and additional story content. So basically, it will be a completely different and entirely new game. I find it hilarious that the explanation for the "radical alterations in game areas" is due to Dalamud, a giant meteor that was summoned and slammed into the planet. The whole game sucked so bad that they literally created something to demolish it in the game itself.
"Okay, so our story is that a meteor came and basically destroyed the planet. That's why it looks so different."
"Okay, just give me until tomorrow, and I'll have it done."
"What? Oh, we don't actually have to do it, we can just say that's what happened."
"You know what? I've worked on this piece of crap for over three years of my life, and what do I have to show for it? This games sucks. I want to destroy it. I am going to create a meteor, I am going to watch it plow into the world, and I am going to savor the moment for the rest of my life."
"You know we're shutting down this version next week, right? So no one will see it anyway?"
"GET AWAY FROM MY DESK AND LET ME WORK!"
 |
| TANAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! |
How many countless man-hours and funds went into this piece of junk? Large-scale, high-quality, big-publisher AAA game development is astoundingly expensive, so why wouldn't you want to make sure that every single cent went towards making it as good as it can be? And now you're not doing it just once. Since you screwed up so bad, you have to do it again. Which means you have to spend almost double the initial amount of money and time to create this thing. And everybody is watching ever so closely, waiting for you to screw up again. Instead of waiting in anticipation to see how awesome this game will be, some people are now waiting in anticipation to see how many things they can find that are still wrong. What a successful marketing technique, Square Enix. Thankfully, Yoshida has created the Final Fantasy XIV forums, where users can give ideas, feedback, suggestions, and the like. This is a good move. But why should the fans have to pick up the slack where the company screwed up in the first place? If these forums were around at the beginning of the development, it wouldn't seem like such a plea, problems could be addressed as they came up, and the initial release would not have been such a nightmare. It wasn't that big of a surprise to the public that the initial release would be a disaster anyway. Many top-notch sources raised their eyebrows at the game's announced release date, because they had seen or heard things firsthand that showed that no, the game should not be released because it's not done.
And it's freaking Final Fantasy! Other games would give all of their pieces/parts to be regarded half as highly as this series. It's going to be near impossible to not compare the relaunch to the original piece of garbage. I'm sure I'll think, "Why couldn't they just do that in the first place?" six million times in the first week of playing (if that even happens), and just get super pissed all over again. So thank you, Square Enix, for spitting in our collective face.
The only good thing about this game is Nobuo Uematsu came back and did all the music himself, which hasn't happened since Final Fantasy IX. But since this is post-IX Uematsu, I'm not falling out of my chair in awe. And anyway, for the relaunch more people are coming on board, so the soundtrack will be quite different from the initial product. Hooray.
I feel bad for Yoshida, I really do. And through all this crap, he's managed to do a lot of great things for the relaunch (titled Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn). Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix, personally picked Yoshida to run the relaunch because he knew Yoshida is "a hardcore MMORPG player and has a vast amount of experience and knowledge in the genre." Um, hello? Wouldn't it have made sense to make a decision like that from square one, before the entire project was botched? Yoshida also provides consistent updates on the progress of the game, so things aren't as hidden to players anymore. I applaud him for this. His current success in designing Dragon Quest X (also an MMORPG) is also a reassuring sign.
But the fact remains that he's part of the bigger picture that is Square Enix, and Square Enix dropped the ball. Then the ball broke. Then we stepped on the pieces and cut up our feet. Then our feet got infected. Then they amputated them, and now we're waiting for our new, improved feet to arrive in the mail. They keep telling us that they're way better and worth the wait, but we're concerned nonetheless.
The immense failure of this game doesn't just fall on one person, even though one person might take the blame. Everything had to be pushed past multiple, highly regarded professionals during the entire game's development for five years. And for whatever reason, from 2005 all the way to 2010, no one stood up and said, "Um, this thing is going to suck. We need to stop now and rethink how we're doing this." So the blame falls on all of them. What a disaster.
No comments:
Post a Comment